Saga one: Jinchuriki (REMASTERED)
by Lord Herobrine
Summary: People believe that the universe is a bubble, or a sphere, or a single plane of existence.; That universes are all separate from each other, and that crossing in-between universes is singularly impossible without transcendental interference. They're wrong. It's more like a sponge, and it doesn't take much for someone to lose their way.
1. 空白を入力する- Enter the Void (Arc 1-1)

_**FIVE MONTHS BEFORE THE KYUUBI INCIDENT**_

Minato Namikaze, Third Hokage of Konoha, was having a very pleasant day.

Technically, any day without a meeting with the Civilian Council was a good day in his books. While the creation of the council, in his eyes, was overall a good idea, sometimes the Council could be more stubborn than Kushina eating ramen, and that was saying something. Aside from the "no meeting day", it also happened to be "Tour the Ninja Academy" day and the induction of newly graduated Chuunin into the shinobi ranks. The finance committee had recently informed him that the shaky business contract with the land of Iron went through without much fuss, and that high grade equipment was now contractually guaranteed for the next six years. That was always a plus. Added to that, the Kage of Suna had finally agreed, after months of subtle pestering, to open up possible alliance talks with him.

That also was a plus.

On the less business side, today happened to also be the unofficial anniversary of his and Kushina's wedding, and they were both planning on trying out this new ramen stand that had opened up recently. Incidentally, Jiraiya was also back in town, and he was interested in joining them. Hiruzen was also free for the night, so that was two good companions interested. Kushina herself had managed to coax the wife of the Uchiha head, Mikoto, to also come and, keep her company. Finally, after the outing, the couple fully intended to return back home for some precious private time, of which Jiraiya and Sarutobi were decidedly **not** invited to.

No way were they letting the old pervert attempt to "research" their private life, not since Minato discovered what was in the seventh chapter of Jiraiya's last bestseller. In short, this day was turning out to be a generally good day for the Yondaime Hokage of Konoha, and on this particular day, fate seemed to smile upon other denizens of the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was having a good day.

Only a month past his retirement and many praises were being echoed around the village upon the appointment of Minato Namikaze as the new Hokage. This approval may have been, in part, a result of the Civilian Council formation, which with everyday citizens could gain a voice in matters of state. Early on in his career, Minato himself noted a rather distinct lack of different opinions in the mechanics of village management. On a particular night a long time ago, he had actually discussed with Hiruzen the concept of such a council, to which Hiruzen replied "If you feel strongly about this, then maybe one day you could implement this idea yourself."

True to his word, the Yellow Flash of Konoha did just that, the moment he stepped into office. Granted there were some kinks to work out, as pertaining to the representation of Ninja clan heads on the council. The reason for this was because after the council had been appointed, the clan heads decided they wanted representation as well. Normally, this wouldn't have been an issue, until one attempted to classify on which side of the committee clan heads belonged. Essentially, all clan heads were shinobi at one point, but then again, many of them had more dealings with the civilian life than the former. This, naturally, led to some confusion on which side clan heads should be represented on. Hyuuga Hizashi, the current head of the Main Branch family, had a particularly difficult time of this, as he and his brother were at odds on who would have what seat. Hizashi deemed that he should have the shinobi seat as was his right as the Main branch head, however Hiashi deemed that Hizashi would much rather be suited with the civilian seat, since that actually had more influence per say. What complicated the matter more was that, even though the Main branch family had the influence and political clout, the Secondary branch family actually _outnumbered _the main branch family, thereby giving them majority vote in the clan.

Not that it mattered much in their affairs, but luckily, that wasn't Hiruzen's headache. Leave it to the younger generation to deal with it, since during his tenure, Sarutobi wasn't able to fix it either.

No, he was quite happy in retirement, watching as Konoha grew and prospered. It was always a philosophy of his that the youth of his time would go on to accomplish far more greater things that he could ever hope to achieve himself. Granted, there would always be… setbacks, but he strongly believe in this idea.

Even with moments like Orochimaru, over which Hiruzen was still a tad sore.

Regardless, the much treasured time of retirement was upon the aged God of Shinobi, and Hiruzen was determined beyond a doubt to enjoy it to its fullest. Yes, Sarutobi Hiruzen of the Hidden Leaf was having a long a favorable rest after conquering the menace that was paperwork for the better part of twenty some-odd years, content of watching the next generation grow and thrive in the shade of the leaves.

Well… most of them anyway.

Not that Sarutobi could blame the village for some of their unintended vices, but even the lowest of genin wasn't as dense as to pile a teacher's burden upon his student, Anko Mitarashi. Brought back to the village only weeks ago, the elder retiree was only one of several high-level Jonin to observe a marked difference in the villages treatment of her to other children. While most of the Chuunin and Jonin understood where the blame needed to be lain, the village, for some bezerk reason, automatically shifted its grudge from the snake sannin to his sole student, Anko. This unfortunately, led to several isolated incidents inside the village, yet nothing too serious had happened thankfully. An ironic note is that while Anko didn't inherit her teacher's predisposition (she actively loathed the man with a burning passion) she did, however, seem to inherit some of her sensei's more bloodthirsty tendencies. As a result, the first couple drunken assaults swiftly halted after the victims of the first wave came out of the general hospital missing some important appendages.

It doesn't matter who any man claims to be. Actively going for and reaching the jewels will **very** quickly ward off any sane and not completely inebriated would-be attackers.

Sadly, this led to small bouts of depression with the young teen, who, not only shouldered an unnecessary burden, but also was still suffering some sluggish after-effects of the Cursed Seal Mark her teacher had maliciously foisted on her. Added to that, the young woman whole-heartedly believe that her sensei had chosen to abandon her, leading to some trust and confidence issues as well, though Sarutobi believed those would disappear with time. He had had the pleasure of knowing Anko before the travesty occurred, and he knew she was a resilient ninja with a will of fire that would not so easily be smothered.

So, despite this, Sarutobi held the next generation in full confidence, entrusting that they would fulfill their dreams and do wonders the likes of which not even his eyes had seen. Indeed, the aged elder fully believed that this peace and happiness would last for a long time.

The same, however, could not be said for his former teammate.

Danzo Shimura was going paranoid.

Not that he wasn't already paranoid, for he knew that many ninja, including his old rival, thought as much, but when he himself began to think he was losing it, then things were very grave. For starters, he woke up this morning without any of the aches and creaks of his joints which had plagued him for a long time. While this respite was much appreciated, the coffee was what set him off.

It was perfect. Not once in Danzo's entire stay in the ROOT headquartes had he ever had a perfect cup of coffee. It was either too strong, not strong enough, a tad bitter, etc. However, this cup in particular was pitch perfect, with nothing to complain about. Intrigued about this, Danzo decided to try a hot cup of tea later.

That also, was perfect, and that was when things really started to get funky.

During a debriefing late last afternoon, he had discovered that three of his spies had not returned from Iwa on their ETA, and he was none too happy about this. He had heard rumors that Iwa was being plagued by some nasty Nukenin, and wanted to confirm them himself. Although the spies didn't show up yesterday, they did, in fact, show up today with news that suggested Iwa was a good deal weaker than originally anticipated. This was also an irregularity. Very rarely did Danzo over-estimate something in his calculations, and while this was also welcome, it started to set Danzo on edge.

Taking a morning stroll through the village, Danzo noted that on this particular day, there were no insolent brats running through the streets, the temperature was just right, his guards were all alert as usual, better even than previously, and to top it off, the upstart of a hokage had the gall to _SMILE_ at him when he passed. It was by sheer force of willpower that Danzo didn't break out in a sweat right then and there when Hiruzen also turned and **SMILED** as well. He swore to himself he had never hightailed it out of a street as faster as he did just now on two feet and a cane to boot.

After that, things just kept getting better and better. Two spies came back with a 148% bonus from a high level assassination, seven more potential ROOT operatives had been successfully deemed field-ready, Danzo's monthly check-up came back with positive results, and Danzo's second cup of joe was just as perfect as the first one.

His guards were giving him odd looks whenever he tried to dispel a non-existent genjutsu .

It was late in the afternoon that found Danzo and his guards atop the Hokage Monument overlooking the village bathed in orange from the setting sun. Coincidentally, he could also see Minato, Mikoto, Kushina, Hiruzen and Jiraiya strolling towards this new Ichiraku Ramen stall, smiling and having an overall pleasant time. Vaguely, Danzo wondered if he threw himself off the edge of the monument, that a mass flock of eagles wouldn't save him from dying; His luck, apparently today, was so good he honestly considered it. Sighing in consternation, Danzo settled for reclining on a park bench and looking up at the darkening sky, light fluffy clouds overhead with some darker ones spiral-

…. Spiraling slowly?

Blinking once, Danzo recalled the morning paper that had the forecast on the front page. If he remembered correctly, the paper had predicted clear skies with only patchy clouds and sunny all the entire week, not a small chance of rain. Moreover, rain clouds did not spiral nor did they visibly spiral in such a way the made him think they were actually speeding up. In addition, Konoha was in the middle of a dry period, so as to have rain at this time of the season…

Quickly rising from the bench, Danzo signaled to his two guards to flank him as he made his way to the balcony overlooking the city. Peering at the approaching phenomenon, Danzo wasn't surprised to hear small rumbles of thunder that by all means, should not exist in the afternoon sky. He also knew for a fact that the humidity was rather dry today, so to see clouds in the sky at all was an odd occurrence. Especially when said clouds seemed to be growing larger, darker, and spinning faster.

No, it was true. Danzo was not having a good day.


	2. 空白を入力する- Enter the Void (Arc 1-2)

The first thing Herobrine felt, was that it was raining. Not hard, like a torrent nor something small like a drizzle. Just a constant rain, dropping methodically through branches and leaves of what sounded like a small glade. Slowly, opening his eyes, he perceived that it was indeed a forest that ensconced him, however, it was not as small as he had thought. In fact, even calling it a forest was out of order, because no forest had trees with limbs that did loop-de-loops, nor did they grow so close together. Tilting his head to the side, he peered into the sky and saw that it must have been either night, or it was approaching, if the clouds were anything to go by. Taking a deep breath through his nose, a wave of pine, oak, and other assorted wild scents assaulted him and nearly had him sneeze. _Smells like a forest, at least_, he thought, as he lifted his arms above his head, stretching them. With another sniff, Herobrine detected the scent of various creatures in the glade, all scurrying to and fro, as if in a rush to get somewhere fast. Presently, he looked down and noticed a miniscule, insect-like being scuttling over his foot. With a raised eyebrow, he perceived that it looked like a common cave spider, but in miniature.

Too miniature, actually. On average, the smallest spider that he had ever seen were babies, and their build did not drop past the size of his palm. Nowhere in Illyria did he ever see a spider smaller than his pinky.

Abruptly, a sharp pain shot through his chest, and the man doubled over, falling on his knees unable to breathe for a split second. Then, as swift as it came, it passed, leaving Herobrine in a fit of violent coughs that echoed through the pitter patter of raindrops.

"Ahhgg," groaned Herobrine. "*_Cough_*… Well.. at least *_wheeze_* my lungs work."

Pounding his chest with his fist a couple of times, Herobrine sat up, craning his neck to the side, popping it. Standing back up, he looked around him at the forest and, huffing in exasperation, decided upon something.

"Okay. Two legs; check. Two feet, five toes, five fingernail- Dear Kami, they're dirty. Two knees, thighs, arms, hands, fingers.. a bit long, but sufficient." Striding over some twigs and branches, Herobrine glanced down at a forming puddle on the ground.

"Dark brown hair, chocolate eyes, eyebrows, nose, a mouth… Yeesh, I need a haircut," he mused softly. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he started to pat himself down, as if looking for something.

"Green T-shirt, belt- Oh, that'll be useful. Blue jeans, without footwear…hunh…" Frowning a bit, Herobrine then proceeded to reach down and take his shirt off, revealing a well-toned body, complete with a six-pack.

"Nice," he whistled. "I'm male. Well, that's good…." Exasperated, he huffed in impatience and glanced about himself in a worrying manner. Finally, seeing nothing to alleviate him of his quandary, he shut his eyes and shrugged.

"Eh, what can you do? Now, to business."

Putting his shirt back on, Herobrine swiftly clapped his hands together and breathed slowly. All of a sudden, faster than a blink of an eye, he bent his knees, turned, and drove his fist into a nearby tree. With a deafening _**Bang**_, hairline fractures fled form the point of impact all the way around the tree, up through the trunk, and into the overhead branches, violently shaking a multitude of leaves from their perch. The background wild noise, that once was amiable, now rose to a frightful din as animals scattered hither and yon, frightened by the thunder that echoed through the woods. Presently, the noise died down back to its normal clamor as Herobrine gingerly pulled his hand from the trunk that once was bark but now was a massive tree lying on its side, branches sent askew everywhere. Inspecting his knuckles, Herobrine was pleased to find no damage, not even a smudge.

"That's acceptable," muttered Herobrine, now gazing back at the smoldering wreckage. "Could have been better. Kind of a thick tree though…" Squinting, he peered closer at the damage. "Wow… this is some weird tree. No rings in the trunk to indicate age, seems like the bark just kept on growing straight through the winter…. if this place has a winter, that is." Shaking his head amusedly, Herobrine stepped back into the glade and sat down crossing his legs.

"Trees with branches in the shape of knots, no age lines, spiders the size of pea pods… Boy, I'm definitely not anywhere near home. Not that that's a bad…thing…but…."

He paused.

_Ironic, now that I think about it. That night… it was raining then too…_

Briefly, the cloudy sky was replaced with a blood-red moon.

He Blinked.

Then, it vanished… merely a specter of a non-existent past. Staring up at the dreary façade, he felt as the rain peppered his already soaked skin. He inhaled once more, the musk of old timber and the decay of fallen litter on the forest bed. He brushed his hand over the rough bark of what once was an oak, now resting on the floor. Cracking his neck, he slowly made his way through the exposed glade, towards a knot in a trunk, extending over a dry patch of grass. Placing himself on the ground, the man sat, Indian Style on the ground, and proceeded to breathe.

In

And out.

In.

And out.

Almost imperceptibly, a soft, blue glow began to adorn the meditator. Like a shroud being lowered on his form, a palpable sheet of indigo hues undulated and spread all over the reticent form.

"Good…." The man murmured under his breath. "Very good."

He opened his white eyes.

_Green. Everywhere there was green. Under the ground, in the trees, even in the grass that stood, now like a raging inferno against the towering skyscrapers of green zephyrs. Verdant streams of rich, vibrant streams, almost like pulsing veins of a verdant glow emanated from within all of the trees around him. Above in the stormy sky, flashes of cloud-to-cloud lightning shot across the grey sky, near illuminating the glade with a blue hue._

He blinked, then slumped against the tree, chocolate eyes open in shock and mouth slack jawed.

"Holy Sheep…." Sitting there for a beat, he just blinked a couple of times.

Then, he grinned. Never, in his life, had there ever been such a concentration of-

"What the Bloody Hell?!"

* * *

…"Eh?"

"What the Bloody Hell!?"

Biting back a yelp, she shakily placed her hand on the ground and hoisted herself off of the ground, inspecting her ankle to see if it wasn't broken. Seeing nothing too bad, she steadied herself on a nearby tree and tested the limb.

"First the tar bomb. Then, the drunks. THEN that thrice-damned excuse for a cat. And here, I thought, 'It can't get any worse, now can it?' But Nooooo… A tree- A flipping **tree** has to fall down on top of me?!" Cursing out the humid air around her, the young teen tried taking a step, only to stumble and thwack her head against another tree, which sent her into a deeper tirade.

"Where in the mighty holy hell did I screw up so bad you had to drop nature on my arse?! Haven't you had your share of farts and giggles for the week? I mean, come on, it's only Tuesday for Kami's sake!"

Fuming and grumbling under her breath, she tried again to raise herself, but, in a sudden fit, hollered out and flopped back down into the underbrush, resorting to glaring at the foliage above. Silently, the rain pattered around her now-thoroughly drenched form as the young teen tried to burn a hole through the vegetation with her eyes. For three hours, the kunochi had been gliding through Training Ground #44, intent on locating something to vent her frustration on. Gargantuan spiders, beasts by any other name, heck, even the occasional sentient plant would have been reasonable. However, to her great irritation, not one of such denizens that usually frequented the forest seemed to be around anymore. Nests had been fled, paths were found untrodden for days, and even the carnivorous flora, which never moved from the spot they were first planted, appeared to have packed up and left their lodgings. In fact, through the past hours, the woman had yet to see anything of significant size other than the occasional mosquito and the sudden rain.

Then, the tree fell on top of her.

Taking the entire day into account, it wasn't the worst thing that happened to her, but it did come a close second to the morning. Waking up, today, found the rent had been hiked up again- for the seventh time this month. Slipping on the cold tile after a cold shower, the woman, already in a bad mood, stumbled outside only to step over a tar bomb, which promptly exploded in her face.

Three hours, a few instances of near-castration, and several traumatized citizens later, the incensed Chunin arrived at the missions desk. Unfortunately, all the good missions were already taken, and since the Hokage was out, she couldn't appeal for a higher task. Only "D" ranks and "C" ranks remained, and the C's weren't that appealing. Between a request for an extra hand at the academy kunochi program, and yet another plea to seek and return the Damyio's cat, Mira, there weren't much options.

Which, inevitably, led to her foray into Training Ground #44, or as the general shinobi populace named it:

"The Forest of Death".

Overgrown, unkempt, and definitely a health hazard to anyone who dared enter, the forest used to be part of what once was the lands of the great Senju Clan. Eventually, with the formation of Konoha, it was terraformed by Hashirama himself into something more resembling a giant death trap to all intruders who dared strike at the fledgling city. In history, this particular swath of land used to be much larger than now, bordering and sheltering the entire fortified community from imminent threats. However, an unhealthy rise in attacks by animals, weird plant monsters, and the occasional giant summon, forced the now unified clans of Konoha to subsequently trim the forest back a bit. Notwithstanding the already plentiful woods surrounding the city, the wild trees were pushed back and the animal incidents died down to manageable levels.

Little known fact about the forest, is the numerous summon animals that resided there. This primarily was, and still is, the sole reason why Konoha in its early days came into possession of so many summoning contracts, most of which were signed and made by, you guessed it, Hashirama Senju. Used to be that the Nara deer, the Aburame Kikachu, the Sarutobi Monkeys, and the shinobi messenger hawks lived in solitude inside the forest. In time, with the contracts and the scaling back of the woods, these animals migrated back inside the city to form a sort of symbiosis with the humans. They aid them, and the humans provide them with sustenance, a place to live, and protection.

Through the Second and Third Shinobi wars, the forest was trimmed back substantially, as more and more human activity began to drive some of the more habitat-sensitive creatures out farther away. While sad, that the creatures drifted away, it gave the city more room to expand and procure lumber, while moving off the mountain and into the plateau beneath it. At its inception between the Senju and the Uchiha, most of the shinobi clans, actually, inhabited the mountains area around current-day Konoha, and they had not as of yet migrated down into the walled citadel.

So, in summation, there is much to be said about the importance of Training Ground #44, which is why it remains the most naturally deadly training arena period, that Konoha has to offer.

Although, that fact didn't stop Anko Mitarashi, Chunin rank kunochi from making it her "playground." A time ago, her old sensei, Orochimaru, had shown, or more like thrown, her into Training Ground #44 as her genin initiation test. Back then, there were not as many vicious creatures as had been recently seen over the years, but to this day, Anko would swear up and down that the test was possibly the most difficult thing she had ever done. Despite not having had any breakfast beforehand, and with only the tools she brought with her, it was to everyone's unadulterated shock, when three days after she was tossed in, Anko strode out of the forest with no less than SIXTEEN black pythons flanking her like a military herald.

That was the one day that Jiraiya ever saw Orochimaru display absolute shock in his face.

The Snake Sannin then proceeded to have his nuts axe kicked from his new pupil. Something else Jiraiya didn't see coming.

Ever since that fateful day, whenever things got tough, Anko retreated to the forest. Bad day? Forest. Annoying teammates? Forest. No missions? Forest.

Though, on this particular day, the forest may not have been the greatest idea.

* * *

He saw it then, moving amongst the rubble where once stood a mighty tree, until someone punched it over. Wearing a tan trench coat and violet hair up in a ponytail, Herobrine noticed a young woman apparently cussing out the air and waving her arms about like a chicken. Curious, but not necessarily the weirdest thing he'd ever seen. She looked young, around twelve, maybe pushing thirteen, wearing what looked like heavy-duty boots, long, tan cargo pants, and a deep violet shirt. Affixed all over her wardrobe were oversized pockets that seemed to bursting to overflowing with pieces of metal… spikes?

Sitting up, Herobrine blinked once, and took a closer look.

_It was, by far, the strangest thing he had seen to date in any living being. Circulating throughout her entire body, were thin, wire-like rivulets of blue light, pulsing and zipping through her system. Objectively visualizing it, one would describe it almost like the neuron synapsis of a human brain, meshed into the nervous system of the human body. Concentrated around her heart, wire upon wire was coiled around it, including the lungs, stomach, and other internal organs. It was amazing to watch, as with each heartbeat, the entire system seemed to come alive and pulsate, lighting up her full form. _

Blinking again, Herobrine sat back with a small grin on his face, ignoring the protestations of the woman across the forest floor. Running his hand through his hair, he chuckled to himself and shook his head in an amused manner. _This be a strange world indeed_, he thought.

It then hit him that where once there were swear words echoing through the din, now there was silence. Slowly, with a small grin spreading across his face, he lifted his head and locked gazes with the woman, chocolate brown meeting deep gray.

He stared.

She stared.

He stared back.

…

Then, he spoke.

"Bad Day, hunh?"

* * *

She heard him before she saw him, and when she did see him, it kinda creeped her out. Lounging against a tree trunk with his knees up, and a grin plastered on his face, Anko saw what looked like a young man reclining against the tree. That there was someone, heck, any person out here made her tense up, expecting a ruse of sorts. Very few times had she ever met anyone else inside the Forest of Death, and whenever she did, it wasn't for cordial visits. Twice, the Hokage had ventured in to seek her out, only for her to try (and fail) to prank him, but he'd always flash away with a chibi face drawn in the bark. On multiple occasions, whenever she'd sneak off for long periods of time, ANBU were sent in just to make sure that the "Snake Bastard's Pupil" hadn't toddled off somewhere.

Very rarely did any ninja period ever travel this deep into the grounds. Usually, if they ever used it, they would congregate around the seventh and ninth gates, where one could still see Konoha, This deep in, unless you knew exactly where you were going and had supplies for at least a week, you would be dead meat quick. While not necessarily big, the forest was very tight on space and crowded. Because of the odd growth pattern of the trees, artificially grown and preserved through the Shodai's **Wood Release**, the forest made for an excellent death trap to any dumb civilian and shinobi stupid enough to test his manliness.

Thus, whoever this sorry lark was, a shinobi, he was not. No self-respecting shinobi ever, EVER, went out of their house without at least one pack of kunai or some other tools with them, even on off days. This sap didn't even have a headband, much less ninja gear. Blue-jeans, a green, cotton tee, and a woven leather belt made for a pretty poor shinobi in anyone's book. In all of her years doing missions and stuff, Anko had never seen such a sorry excuse for a ninja in the worst place imaginable.

Ever, and that set her off.

He looked like he really didn't give a damn where he was, or what he was doing. There was nothing to outwardly identify him, other than the fact that he looked near-around early to mid-twenties. Well built, and tall, the man actually seemed quite at home in the damp, dank rainy forest. To be honest, if she had seen this specimen of a person anywhere else other than here, she would have mistaken him for a traveler.

Except this was deep in the forest of death, and he was in a tee and jeans. No way fit for any sort of work or travel.

In fact, he didn't look like he was equipped with anything but his birthday suit and bare hands.

She flinched as he lifted his head and looked straight at her. Slowly propping herself on her elbow, she surreptitiously slipped a couple shuriken in her palm, just in case she needed to let loose a few. For a split second, she imagined that his eye had changed color from dark brown to white.

She blinked and it was gone.

She stared.

He stared.

She stared back.

Then he spoke.

"Bad Day, hunh?"

* * *

"_Long before modern man burst upon the set of time and commenced their act upon the stage of life, there were the Sages. Beings that had transcended time, space, and their own existence, they were there at the beginning, and have remained ever since. Men sought them out for their wisdom, but rarely did they ever find them._

"_There was a time when Sages were spoken of with reverence, and treated like gods among mere mortals, despite what they appeared to be."_

"_Now, no more. Lost in time, and forgotten, they still linger with wisdom hitherto unknown. With patience that spans the breadth and width of imagination, they exist, if only as a remnant of a past long since dead."_

"_One, clothed in white, guards a black gate, hidden within every soul, and governs all truth."_

"_One, cloaked in the garments of society and business, walks among the living, ever presiding over what man gives, and what man takes for himself."_

"_One shielded from the world, sits atop the horizon of all known events, with hundreds of arms, and hundreds of hands, each, tightly woven within the life of all who are destined for Naraka."_

"_And one, exists within time, observing a nation splintered at the core, straight down the middle, between power and the price to use it."_

_Used to be a time when man thought the Sages were dead._

_But they aren't dead. _

_They aren't dying._

_And they are not silent, anymore._


	3. 空白を入力する- Enter the Void (Arc 1-3)

Many thanks to all who have followed and fave'd this story. Personally, I was worried that since this was such an obscure crossover, that no one would read it.

I'm glad I was wrong

* * *

"Bad Day, hunh?" queried Herobrine, still staring at the woman across the glade.

"Oh," remarked Anko, "You have no idea."

For a moment, they both stared at each other, without moving or breaking eye contact. Then, Anko spoke up again.

"What about you?" she asked. "How's your day been?"

"It's been well," replied Herobrine. "although if you consider getting lost in a forest well, then yeah."

"Lost?" asked Anko, slowly raising an eyebrow. "Oh, why would you ever get lost in this place? I mean, it's not a paved road or anything, but it shouldn't be that easy to get lost in here." Smirking, Anko propped herself on her elbow. "Though, I would like to know why you came in here in the first place. I don't know if you know this, but the Forest of Death isn't exactly popular with most people. So, what are you doing here?"

"Doing?" quipped Herobrine. "I'm not doing anything at the moment. I just came in here to admire the trees, the flora and fauna, and to contemplate life in general." Smiling, he added, "Didn't plan on getting lost, though I can handle myself just fine."

"Uh hunh…" deadpanned Anko. "And the fact that the gate around this place said 'KEEP OUT' just flew over your head, didn't it."

"Yep."

"…"

"Who are you really," stated Anko, who began to clean her fingernails with a kunai. "Oh, and like you said, I am having a bad day, so lying is ill-advised," she finished off with a glare.

"Who am I," intoned Herobrine, now getting to his feet, brushing off some dirt. "Well, if I were to name myself, I would most likely say that I'm a Traveler. Or a ranger, if you prefer." Cracking his neck, he looked at the girl, and smiling, spoke, "You, though, can call me Herobrine."

"…. Hero…Brin?" Anko frowned.

"Uhh.. No. It's Hero Brine. Ya know, like saltwater brine? You accent the "I". Something like 'Twine', only replacing the 'T' with a 'B'."

"…. Ok then," Anko observed, "but that still doesn't answer my question." Slowly getting to her feet, while trying to avoid putting too much weight on her left leg, she palmed the kunai in a reverse grip and stood. "What are you doing in Training Ground #44? Did Minato set you up to this?"

"….No idea who this 'Minato' is," replied Herobrine, not smiling anymore.

"Seriously?" retorted Anko. "You have no idea who he is?"

"Nope."

….

"You're not from around here, are you."

"Like I said, I'm a traveler. That part I didn't make up."

"…Shit," swore Anko, readying herself for a possible confrontation. "So are you here on a joy ride or something? Or are you here to kill me?"

Raising both eyebrows, Herobrine opened his mouth to say something, then closed it, then opened it again.

"Why would I kill such a beautiful creature as you?"

"S-shut up!" Anko hastily responded, slightly red in the face. "Why else would you follow me in here? You already dropped a tree on me, so are you just doing this for a laugh?" Dropping into a stance, she winced as her foot caught on something, but she steadied herself.

"I didn't dro-… Ooohh," Herobrine realized. "Oops… My bad. Didn't think anyone was around when I knocked that tree down."

"Oh sure, and I'm the prettiest girl in Konoha," Anko deadpanned.

"Well, are you?" Herobrine asked.

"What do you think, you dolt?"

"…Yes. Yes, you are," Herobrine replied, plastering a very annoying smirk on his face.

Palming her face, Anko gave an exasperated groan and grimaced at the man's wit. Still not letting go of the kunai, she limped out of the wrecked tree and strode over to the man, who was leaning against a pine, hand in his pockets. Coming closer, she noted the fact that he really had nothing dangerous on his figure, and while it was a slight relief that he wouldn't backstab her the first chance he got, it was still unnerving as to how he got in here without dying a horrible death.

"Do you have any idea the position you are in right now," Anko inquired. "Here you are, in the fricken Forest of Death, with no weapons, nothing that remotely looks like camping equipment, and you have no idea who the Hokage of Konoha is. Doesn't this… oh I don't know… concern you at all? Any?"

"I know exactly what position I'm in right now," Herobrine responded, taking his hands out of his jeans. "I am leaning against a tree without a care in the world, talking to a young teen, who is very beautiful by the way, and who also is making hostile motions towards me, despite her sprained foot. I also know, and you should know, that threatening someone who already displayed superior strength on that trunk over there is a very bad idea. Because-"

In a split second, he crossed the distance in a flash, barely disturbing the grass around him. Placing his right hand on her shoulder and covering the kunai with his left, Herobrine whispered to the startled girl.

"If I can drop trees with my bare hands, then you have to wonder. What else can I do?"

_I'm screwed_, Anko immediately thought, tensing up as she braced herself for an imminent attack. _Kami, I am SO screwed. You just had to antagonize him, didn't you, Mitarashi. Ah hell, this is the worst day ever._ Flinching, she closed her eyes, only to gasp as, in one fluid motion, her legs were swept out from underneath her and she found herself in Herobrine's arms.

"Thankfully, for you at least," Herobrine remarked, "I'm not interested in doing much tonight. Now with your help, I would like to leave this forest, and since you have so graciously pointed out that there is society nearby, perhaps you would be equally generous in pointing the direction so we both can vacate this place?"

"ACK!" roared Anko, violently ramming her elbow into his jaw. "Put me the hell down!"

Startled, Herobrine staggered back a couple steps, and unceremoniously dropped her on her bad leg. Yelping, Anko herself stumbled and fell back ontop of her behind, landing ungainly on a protruding root.

"…That wasn't nice," Herobrine muttered to himself as he got back up, rubbing his jaw. "Here, I offer to carry you out of here and you try to dislodge a molar." Blinking, he shook his head as the young woman screeched obscenities at the top of her lungs, having very likely injured her ankle more and having a root up her rump.

"Ahhhggg…" Anko whimpered, prying herself off the ground. "This day sucks."

"Wait till' you get married."

"Shut up, Herobrine."

Wincing in a great amount of pain, Anko dragged herself against a tree and sat down with tears in her eyes. As if this day couldn't get worse, now she was being manhandled by some stranger who was thoroughly confusing the heck out of her. Sprained ankle, possibly broken, and a throbbing posterior, Anko silently cussed out whatever gods were laughing their heads off up in heaven. Suddenly starting, when a drop of particularly cold rain hit her neck, she looked up to find that the rain had picked up in intensity, and now began to pour down, thoroughly drenching the two people. Clenching the kunai in one hand and her fist in the other, she sent a withering glare at the bemused man as she contemplated what to do next. Waiting out the storm seemed like a good idea, but she would be damned if she was forced to spend the night out here instead of her bed back home. She reasoned that she probably could return to Konoha before things got worse than they already were, but that would mean leading the stranger right into the city. Looking him over, she surmised that she still had no idea what this guy was, except that his name was "Herobrine" and he was annoying as hell. She did not know whether he was a civilian, shinobi, or whoever he said he was. All she had to base off of were what he'd already said, and that wasn't a very comforting thought.

"So," Anko conceded. "If you're not from around here, then where are you from? There's no way you could have just waltzed in here on your own."

"Well," Herobrine replied, dropping down beside her ignoring the disgusted sound she made, "I don't see why you would believe me, even if that's what I did."

"No, I wouldn't", she accepted, leaning her head back against the tree, listening to the pitter patter of the downpour around her. "I'd assume vice versa as well?"

"Now, there's where you're wrong," stated Herobrine. "Despite first impressions, I have no problems with listening to what people say. I'm just good at detecting lies, that's all," he admitted. Sniffling, he got back up and looked down at the soaked girl.

"Are you really just going to sit there all night? You'll catch something, and it'll only make your horrible, no good, very bad day worse." Folding his arms across his chest, Herobrine considered something for a moment, then added, "I'll carry you out of here if you want, but you had better not wail on me if I do."

"….fine." Anko grumbled. "Cop a feel and this kunai is going up your ass."

"I wouldn't dare," chuckled Herobrine. Bending down, he scooped the girl back up in his arms, taking great care not to get walloped again. Straitening back up, he looked around, then back at the disgruntled girl.

"Where to, miss?"

"Well," said Anko, "It would be much easier if we could travel on the branches, but since you're not a shinobi, then I doubt you can do that."

"… What's a shinobi?"

"….Oy… You know what, forget about it," she moaned. "Just climb a tree or somethinggggGGAAHHH!"

With a sudden burst of movement, Herobrine went from ground level, to nearly twenty feet in the air with a single jump. Landing steadily on a think branch, he grinned back at her.

"Next?" he questioned, only to duck as she swung her kunai at his head.

"WILL YOU STOP THAT?!" she yelled at him. "Geez…"

Smirking, Herobrine looked expectantly back at Anko, who merely grunted in consternation and nodded her head in a direction. Leaping from tree to tree, Herobrine carried her bridal style through the dense forest and the rain, never stopping or slipping. After a long while, he noted that the forest seemed to be thinning out in places and the trees were less clumped together. Down below, Herobrine noted multiple deer paths seemed to spring out of nowhere and signs of human activity, like campfires and muddy footprints, appeared on the ground. Ahead, a tall, barbed gate materialized out of thin air, with weird scrawling on a red sign. Herobrine assumed this was the "Keep Out" sign, although he could not read it.

Suddenly, almost without warning, he saw ahead of him a massive stone wall, topped with slanting red shingles. Stopping on a limb, he hopped down to the ground and met solid dirt once again. Looking up, he whistled to himself, staring at the eighty foot high wall that seemed to stretch on in two directions, only curving slightly.

"Damn, that's a big wall," Herobrine remarked.

"It should be," responded a slightly winded Anko. "It's Konoha."

"So, where's the gate?"

Nodding in another direction, Anko slightly jerked as Herobrine took off down the wall on the surrounding path. After what seemed like a couple minutes, two massive, wooden doors could be seen slightly ajar with a couple men in green vests chatting outside. Coming to a slow walk, Herobrine gently started to lower Anko down, only for her to wrap her arm around his neck.

"No sir," she smirked at him. "If you can carry me through that forest, then you can damn well carry me back home."

"Freeloader," Herobrine grumbled, but he hoisted her back up, and walked towards the gate.

"Halt," one of the men abruptly spoke, disengaging from his friends. "Who are you and what are you-"

"It's me, ya dipshit." Anko blurted out. "Can't you see?"

"A-Anko!" The man took a few steps back, startled. "Where have you been?"

"Where do you think?" she retorted. Coughing a bit, the man re-composed himself and stared at Herobrine, who passively stared right back.

"Who's he?"

"He's with me. Now shove off and let us in."Anko growled, sending shivers down the man's spine.

"N-Now hold on here," the man said with a slightly tremulous voice. "You know procedure, Mitarashi. All incoming persons must register themselves at the gate, regardless of who they are. Which reminds me, how did you get out without signing out?" the man asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I jumped the wall. What else do ya think?" Anko deadpanned. She looked back up at Herobrine, who shrugged nonchalantly and looked back.

"I don't mind," replied Herobrine. "Hopefully it won't take long; this young woman seems to have busted her ankle."

"Oh," the guard acknowledged, now noticing Anko's slightly pained expression. "It shouldn't take long, no. Follow me please." With that, the man led them inside the gate to a sheltered booth, where he got out a couple pieces of paper. "I just need you to fill these out," he stated, then flinched away as Anko shot him a death glare. "Or, I can fill them out for you." He relaxed as Anko grinned.

"Name?"

"Herobrine" The man paused a moment, trying to figure out how to write that down.

"Occupation?"

"Carpenter." (Anko gave him a funny look)

"Purpose of visit?"

"Besides helping this young woman, visiting an old friend."

"Where do you Hail from?"

"Kirigakure," Anko interrupted Herobrine as he was about to say something. "Now will you hurry up please? I can't feel my feet." The man stared at her for a second, then shrugged and wrote it down.

"Anything to declare?"

"Konoha has a ton of trees."

"… o…kay.."

Jotting down a few more notes, the guard stapled a couple papers together, then filed them away. He handed Anko a small sheet of paper, then turned back to Herobrine.

"Very well then. I believe that's all I need from you at the moment. Upon entering Konoha, you will be expected to follow all the rules and stuff. No troublemaking, no antagonizing the shinobi, all that good stuff. You will be subject to all rules, all finances you incur, and any crimes you commit will be prosecuted under Konoha Law, unless you can provide sufficient proof of diplomatic immunity. Keep this paper with you at all times. This is your pass into the city. Please don't lose it, as things tend to get complicated if you are found without one." Pausing for a moment, the man added. "There's a cultural festival tomorrow if you're interested. Food, games, celebrations, and a word from the Hokage as well. Might wanna look into that."

"blah, blah, blah, blah, ok, CAN WE GO NOW?" mouthed Anko.

"Yes," sighed the man, "You can now enter Konoha. Again." As Herobrine entered the city, the man called out. "Please try and tell us when you're leaving the city will you Anko? I'm not keen on doing anymore paperwork than I have to."

"Yeah, yeah," she replied. "Oi, you," she stared pointedly at Herobrine. "Turn right here and take the second street down."

Nodding in confirmation, Herobrine adjusted his hold on her, and sped down the busy streets of the city, illuminated by lamplight and moonlight. All around him, one could hear the evening activity of the night life as some people closed down shops and others announced that they were open. The chatter of greetings, the laughter form pubs, all the sounds of Konoha permeated the night air and followed Herobrine through the winding roads, dodging carts and people alike. On some occasions, Herobrine noted a couple people giving him odd looks as he carried Anko through the roads, and on others, he oddly noted some people sneer at him. Strange, though not wholly unexpected, as one usually doesn't see a grown man carrying a young teen running down the streets. As he passed the entrance of an inn, an old man with a cane in one hand and bandages over the side of his face, exited and stared after the fleeing couple with a confused expression.

"Sir, was that what I thought it was?" questioned a masked armed man, who wasn't there a second ago.

"…Pay it no heed, Ox." The man assented, then swiftly brought his hands together.

"_KAI_"..

Nothing.

"…Are you ok sir?"

"…I hope so," the elder said, and with a brisk motion, he strolled back inside. "One more cup of tea before I leave."

"Yes sir."

* * *

The first impression Herobrine had of the apartment, was that someone must have done a horrific paint job. Streaks of black stuff were stuck to the window and the doorframe, along with an acrid smell of something burnt. Scanning the door, it looked like it had seen better days, as dings and scratches littered it all over the front.

"Damn.. I never cleaned that," muttered Anko, who slowly was placed on the ground and limped towards the front. "Ignore that… I'll get it later." Picking a small key out of her boot, she unlocked the apartment and walked in. A few seconds, and she poked her head outside again.

"Ya comin?" she asked Herobrine.

"Are you sure?" he replied. "I don't want to necessarily intrude or anything."

"Shut up and come in. Ya carried me back here, so the least I can do is offer you something for your time. 'Sides, Anko Mitarashi always pays her debts," she finished.

"Oh, so that's your full name," Herobrine realized.

"Uhh, yeah.. didn't I…"

It was then that Anko noted with a shock, that she had not told him her name the entire time in the forest and back. While he had freely given information from his person, she had not. Feeling slightly bad about that, she let Herobrine in and shut the door.

"S-sorry. I didn't realize that.." Anko admitted, pink in the face from embarrassment.

"I didn't ask," replied Herobrine. "Nice name, by the by."

Grumbling about stuck up men, Anko hobbled about the room, flipping on lights and dumping her soaked coat over the back of a chair. It was a quaint little sitting area, with two lamps in the corners, a sofa, a low wooden table, two other chairs, and a rug which had a depiction of a snake on in. The walls were painted a light grey with hooks on them and a few shelves, each loaded down with some article of clothing or a box of metal spikey things. Not necessarily tidy, since Herobrine distinctly saw a training bra draped over one of the lamps, but at least it was cozier than the forest.

Farther back in the room was the kitchenette with an island in the middle. A stove sat just below a microwave, affixed to the ceiling, and cutlery and bowls were scattered all over the place. One even held half-finished mush, which smelled something weird. Off to the side of the front room, Herobrine noted a doorway to what he assumed was her bedroom. Having no desire to venture inside, however, he satisfied himself with cleaning up at the sink, washing off all the grime and dirt off his arms. Wiping his face with an errant towel, he could hear Anko in her room banging something about, naturally cursing, and he decided to just crash on the couch until she came back.

A few minutes later, and some thumping could be heard exiting her room. Turning around, Herobrine saw Anko in a tattered, purple night robe, with a bunch of bandages in one hand and a splint in the other. Grunting a half-hearted hello, she sat down on one of the chairs, pulled the table over to her with a screech, and started to patch up her foot, wincing in pain all the way. Craning his neck, Herobrine looked over her ankle as she was wrapping gauze around it.

He Blinked.

* * *

"That's not going to work."

Startled, she looked up at Herobrine, who was peering at her ankle intently.

"What are you talking about?" she asked. "It's just a sprain; I've had these before. I know how they feel." She went back to patching.

Herobrine looked about to say something, then abruptly got up. Walking over to the stove top, he pulled out a hot pan, filled it with water, and set it to boil.

"Hungry?" Anko questioned, having already pilfered her dango stores while grabbing a splint.

"No," he replied, looking at the water. "Do you happen to have sugar, salt, baking soda, and some cinnamon?"

Concerned, she stopped with her splint and stared at him. "Are you joking?"

"Nope."

"…. Why"

I'm going to try something. Something that involves sugar, salt, baking soda, and some cinnamon, so if you have some, that would be nice to know.

"…No.. I'm not going to let you pilfer my stores," Anko retorted, fully turning to face him.

He stared at the water for a moment, then turned to her. For a second, she thought she saw a flash of white in his eyes, then it vanished, again.

"What if I told you that is an incomplete spiral fracture, and not just a "sprain."

… "I'd call bullshit."

"Ever had a spiral?"

"…no.. but-"

"Then I can tell you that your splint is going to do nothing. Shrugging, he went back to the pot, staring at it like it was the most important thing in the world. A pregnant silence filled the room, and the only noise was the bubbling of the pot and the occasional crow in the night. Frowning, Anko sat back, completely abandoning her splint.

"What if I told you that I did have what you need?"

"Then I would ask you to do, probably, the stupidest thing you have ever done today."

"Eh…?"

"To trust me."

"…"

"…"

Throwing her hands up in exasperation, she stood up, limped over to a box on a shelf, and rummaged in it for a spell. Finally, pulling out two kunai, she limped back to her chair and sat down.

"I trust you just as much as I trust shit to fly."

"Well, when shit hits the fan-"

"And if you muck this up, you will hit the fan. In pieces."

"…"

"Well?" she asked. "You just gonna stand there? The stuff is in the left cupboard, third shelf down.

He smiled.

"Then, let us begin."

* * *

_A time before time, there was a war. It lies unrecorded, because there was nothing left. Whole systems. Gone._

_Entire species. Exterminated._

_There was a time when the sages were not so docile as they led humanity to belief._

_Used to be a time when the wars of gods were real, and they were more terrible, more violent, and more cataclysmic than the End of Time._

_There was a time when sages were synonymous with "Devils"._

_Then, one day, amidst all the fighting, were spoken two words._

"_**NO MORE**__"_


	4. 空白を入力する- Enter the Void (Arc 1-4)

…"_Not enough"_

_She was on fire. Searing, burning flames were lancing all over her skin, burning black flames trapping her in her own personal hell._

"_Ku Ku Ku… Still not enough, dear Anko-chan."_

_The serpentine voice slithered around the smoking, black crater as the woman writhed on the ground, trying to smother flames that did not burn, yet burned on and on. Echoing inside the cavern, it grew in intensity, louder and louder, higher and higher, until it rose to such a din, it mirrored the agonizing pain she felt._

"_Now, let's try this again…"_

* * *

"**AAAAHHHH!"**

Bolting with a kunai in hand Anko hurled it at the wall, knocking over a beaten alarm clock and lodging itself in the opposite wall, almost to the hilt. With wild, frightened eyes, Anko swept the unfamiliar surroundings, hands already in a half-ram seal-

Only to fall out of her bed.

Laying on the ground, a sweating, shaky mess, Anko stayed there for what seemed like an eternity. Gingerly, raising her head she scanned her room, taking stock of herself. With relief, she was not underground, in that place, but in her room. Small rays of light peeked through the blinds and danced across her oak wood dresser as she slowly rose to a sitting position. Wiping the sweat off her brow, Anko gave a dejected sigh and stared at the floor. Biting her lip, she reached up and unconsciously rubbed a small tattoo on the back of her neck.

_Busted another one_, she absently thought. _I thought these had passed already_…

Abruptly, she shook her head to rid herself of dangerous thoughts that threatened to creep into her consciousness. For weeks, she hadn't had such a violent episode like this, ever since… well… she couldn't quite remember when the last time was, but it wasn't as jarring as this. Therapy and some medications had fended the nightmares off in recent months, but apparently, they too were starting to wane and weaken. It always started with the first one. An attack, several weeks, another attack, a few days, and then it would occur every single night. Twice this cycle had perpetuated itself, and twice, remedies had been found. Most times she could shake them off and get up fine. Others had laid her out in a shivering mess.

Anko hated those mornings with a passion. She felt weak when they happened, and she loathed feeling weak. When they occurred, she would shut herself in her house and wouldn't come out, even when her old Chunin teammates would come calling. Vividly, she remembered one day when even the peaceable and friendly Kurenai couldn't wake her out of her funk. Rubbing her eyes, which were slightly moist, Anko got up irritated at this unnecessary reminiscing and went over to the other side of the room. With a grunt, she wrenched the kunai out of the drywall. Groaning at the new addition to her already busted room, she tossed the point onto her bed and threw on some new clothes. Moving to exit her room she stopped, considered something, and then went back into her closet. Pulling out her tanto and a new box of shuriken, she hefted them under her arm and entered the kitchen. With a mumbled "hello" to the other man at the stove, she dumped the equipment onto the couch and crossed the living room to brush.

It was a few minutes later, while doing up her hair in her usual pineapple-top, that she froze like a deer caught in the head lights. Staring straight at her reflection she blinked once at herself, shook her head, froze once again, then with great care, she poked her head out of the bathroom.

"Not a morning person, hunh"? remarked Herobrine, pulling two forks out of a random drawer. "Oh. Good morning again, by the by, now that you're up." Smiling and chuckling to himself, he turned back to the stove and tended to something on top of the burners.

It smelled like eggs.

"…W-..Who are you?" asked a trembling Anko.

"Herobrine… You know, the stray you picked up in the Forest of Death." Preoccupied with the pan, he sniffed, then continued. "I fixed your spiral fracture last night. Didn't expect you to faint afterwards though, so I put you to bed."

Pausing, he poked at the food with a spatula.

"Made you breakfast. It'll be ready in a jiffy, so sit yourself right down. That is, if you're not planning on gutting the man making your food, which would be a terrible idea."

A jumbled cacophony of memories hit Anko in the face as she remembered all the events of the previous night. Slumping in relief, she returned to fixing her hair, then complied and sat down.

"…Thank you for that," she blurted out. Yawning and rubbing some sleep out of her eyes, she leaned back in the chair and listened to the food simmer. Presently, she also heard Herobrine humming something, before he smiled and clapped his hands.

* * *

"Whoa… what in the world-?"

"Behold, fair maiden. Eggs Benedict." Herobrine displayed the food, which looked quite delicious, then placed a hefty portion in front of her and sat down himself.

Huffing in annoyance, Anko pulled herself a fork from the table and dug in. For a while, there was nothing but the sound of food being devoured with great haste.

"…'Dis is rully gud," Anko said with her mouth full. Swallowing, she continued. "What the heck did you put in here?"

"Oh…" Herobrine mused, smacking his lips appreciatively. "Poison."

There was a sound like a surfacing plunger as Anko hacked and shot from the table, falling over herself. Jumping back up, she was about to tear the man a new one, then she saw him cackling in glee. Pounding the table repeatedly, he kept on laughing for a full minute before he stopped, tears in his eyes.

"_Haaa.. haaa… hooooooo…_ That was *hic* too good…. Ahhh man…" Raising his gleeful eyes to a pissed off Anko, he snorted, then stood up. "Think about it, girl. If I had poisoned you, then I'd be dead right around now as well." Collecting the plates, he moved to stand up, then suddenly he ducked as a couple shuriken embedded themselves in the cabinet where he head was. Peeking over the edge of the table, he spotted Anko with her sword in a reverse grip, a vein throbbing in her head.

"Pull that shit… One more time… I dare you bastard," she venomously spat out.

Grinning, Herobrine held up his hands in surrender and shrugged. "On my non-existent honor, I swear I will cease and desist for the present time." Still giggling with mirth, he waltzed over to the sink and started washing the dishes, as Anko tried to burn a hole through his back with her glare. After a while, he put the last one away, dried his hands and turned around to see her wearing her tanto on her back with shin and arm guards adorning her limbs.

"Are you going to war," Herobrine asked.

"I wish. This is the normal shinobi wear, for your information. I've got duty today."

"What would that be?"

"Whatever's on the mission table," Anko nonchalantly replied.

"…Mind if I join you?" said Herobrine, rising to his feet.

Shrugging, Anko nodded with her head and the two left the apartment, greeting the morning sun. Blinking at the abrupt shine, Herobrine rubbed his eyes, then turned to Anko.

"So… Where do w-"

*POOF*

In a burst of smoke, Anko vanished from view, with her tongue sticking out at Herobrine. Staring at the empty space in front of him, Herobrine stood still for a moment, then shrugged. Cracking his neck, he stood in the street for a moment, then rose his eyes to the roof of the complex.

"That was fast," he shouted to Anko, who stumbled with a pail of water in her hands.

"How the hell?!" she yelled, uncaring about the other tenants. "Totally not fair man!" Throwing the pail over the side, she took off the other way, pounding on the roof of the top floor. Leaping off to the other street, she tore across the roofs, over ledges, around chimneys and even over the errant power cords littering the air ways. Startling a pair of pigeons from their roost, she made her way over the populace of Konoha towards the Mission office near the center of town. Dropping to the street after a few minutes, she zigzagged her way through the dirt roads, dodging the shopkeepers just opening for the day and knocking over a few people who didn't get the hint to move out of Anko Mitarashi's way. Huffing and puffing, she vaulted over a large painting in the middle of the road, ducked under a log, disappeared in flash and re-materialized, right in front of the building.

"Aaaaand, SAFE!" she shouted to no one in particular, striking a victory pose with her hand on her hip and another in a V-sign for all to see. There was a stun silence in the square, then someone tapped her on the shoulder.

"Tone it down will you Anko?" another chunin mumbled. "It's way too early in the morning for that now..."

"Awww… someone had a bad night's sleep again Iruka" Anko grinned.

"...Oh never mind," groaned the named chunin, rubbing his hair and smiling. "I give up trying to knock some sense into you."

"You couldn't do that even if you have Asuma providing cover fire," smirked Anko, turning around to face the young teen. Only an inch taller than her, Iruka had recently achieved chunin from the exams a few months earlier, having sustained a scar for his victory. Crossing his nose, it stood for the world to see, if a tad red in some areas. Wearing the traditional chunin vest, blue cargo pants and a long-sleeved mesh shirt, Iruka chuckled to himself and high-fived Anko in greeting.

"It's good to see you up and about at least," he remarked. "At least you didn't use the window this time."

"I aim to please," she smirked. "Not entirely keen on picking glass out of my shoes like last time."

"Yeah," Iruka agreed. "I'm not entirely keen on cleaning up after your mess either."

"Ehehehe… sorry," Anko said, slightly embarrassed.

Entering the front office, most of the staff were still setting up as attendees hurried to and fro with important papers and documents. As a couple men were checking all the incoming from the evening post, other shinobi and a few Jonin were already present, having a cup of coffee in the lounge. Recognizing some faces, Anko proceeded to join a few of her friends when Iruka stopped her.

"Quick question: Why were you in such a rush to get here anyway? I saw you coming nearly a mile off. Looked like you were in a rush."

"Well…" Anko mused, stroking her chin. "Let's just say I decided to demonstrate to someone what shinobi could do."

* * *

"Aannd… I have no idea where I am…"

Standing in the middle of some random street, Herobrine huffed his indignation after losing the purple-haired vixen amongst the rush hour crowd as people traveled to work. Surprisingly, he had been able to follow her a long while until she did her "poof" schtick and slipped down a back alley. While he could have given chase, he was momentarily preoccupied when a wagon deposited itself in the entranceway.

_Could've vaulted the roof_, he mused. _Then again, I'm not too sure the police would take kindly to a giant cat chase_.

Shrugging, he wandered aimlessly through streets, pausing to take in the city of Konoha in the morning. To the best of his knowledge after a few hours, civilians were more or less milling about with free reign, and the general atmosphere of the community seemed to be agreeable and pleasant. A few strangers even waved hello at him. The architecture of the streets seemed to criss-cross with no discernable pattern, only intersecting at a few large locus points. Shops were in the form of stalls on the side of the streets, selling everything from clothes, to food, to furniture. If there was an ideal trading area in Illyria, then this would be the model.

Although he couldn't complain about the marketplace, Herobrine had some issues with the houses. In the center of the city, where the activity was more prevalent, the placement of the houses left much to be desired, in his opinion. Old brick and stone buildings with metal siding made up the greater part of the street level structure. However, on the second level up, the housing abruptly shifted to wooden sides with no discernable reason unless someone got lazy and ran out of stone. Farther up, the subsequent floors rising to the sky were perched dangerously over their bottom floors. Raising his eyebrow, all Herobrine could think of was that the city was a magnificent fire hazard waiting to happen. The roofs, while made of stone clay, were too close together. Dirt was everywhere because there were no real paved roads. One needed only to set fire to the top floor then knock it down to spread to the next street.

In addition, all the buildings were covered in power cords, metal pipes on the outside of buildings, which would freeze in a heartbeat in winter. Such chaotic cabling Herobrine had never seen in his life, and he would bet his rear end that any sane architect back home would have an aneurysm if they saw this monstrosity. Moving to the outer edges of the city, the haphazard construction dumbed down a bit as more sophisticated, and aesthetically pleasing buildings took shape in narrower streets, some of which were paved. Peering at the larger complexes, Herobrine perceived that the outer suburbs were owned by people with more wealth or propriety, as some of the citizens here were better dressed with silken robes. Passing by a walled complex, Herobrine stopped in curiosity as he saw some guards at the front door, above which the words "Hyuuga District" were emblazoned in green. As he walked down the street, he could feel the door guards – he thought they looked the part – stare at him when he turned the corner.

* * *

Exiting the house, Hiashi Hyuuga was greeted with a weird sight, as the door guards who were supposed to be alert at the door were, instead, staring down the street with Byakugan on full volume.

"What are you doing?"

Snapping back to attention, the flustered guards ran back to their positions, profusely sputtering apologies.

"Enough," he ordered, and they fell silent. "What. Were. You. Doing?"

"W-well," one of them stammered. "We were observing a suspicious character pass the compound."

"That looked a bit more than just observing to me." Hiashi deadpanned. "More like ogling."

"…Well…" one of them started. "We were observing his chakra system."

"And?"

"…Lord Hiashi… how many tenketsu does the normal citizen usually have?"

This was a puzzling question, as all members, whether branch or main were supposed to know this number by heart.

"361," replied Hiashi. "Why?"

"…Nothing," the woman eventually stated.

"Be honest, Ilya." Hiashi ordered. "Why do you ask such a question?"

The identified female guard started shakily, then replied. "Is it possible for someone to possess more than that?"

"How much are we talking about?" queried Hiashi.

She hesitated another second, unsure of whether or not to respond.

"…438"

"Nonsense," replied Hiashi, after a moment. "You must have been seeing things."

"Umm… sir?" perked up the other guard. "I can confirm Ilya's findings, though I advised her not to say anything."

Looking at the other guard, Hiashi thought about it for a moment. While it was theorized that some human systems had the capacity for other tenketsu points in their system, the greatest number that any shinobi had ever possessed was 387. Incidentally, that number was the sole exception, as any subsequent tenketsu was deemed impossible. Many professional shinobi doctors surmised that the number did not differ much from the normal, and if it ever did, then it was usually lower and not higher.

387 was the number of tenketsu that Hashirama Senju was purported to have.

. . .

"Which direction did the individual go?"

"He took a right down the street, about a few yards down," Ilya automatically replied her Byakugan active and already trained in the general direction.

Turning to her specifications, Hisashi activated his own Byakugan and peered into the other street.

His jaw dropped.

"…What in Kami?"

* * *

Shivering, Herobrine had the distinct impression someone was giving him a cold stare, however when he looked around, there was no one. Shrugging, he walked back into town, on the way back to Anko's place. Resigning himself to the fact the she really had ditched him, Herobrine "humphed" to himself and stuck his hands in his pockets.

_You brought this on yourself man_, he reasoned. Pausing, his lips parted into a toothy grin.

'_Totes worth it though_.

Abruptly, his stomach protested his loitering with a loud grumble. Scowling down at it, Herobrine looked at the sun and thought it to be around 1'o clock in the afternoon. Trudging through the marketplace, Herobrine tried to retrace his steps back to her house, when a pleasant aroma wafted under his nose.

Startled, Herobrine sniffed the air a couple of times, then turned to a stall down the road. Backpedaling, he observed that it was a soup stall with really stringy noodles, whose name was completely lost to him. Idly, he overheard the man shout at some helpers to "not drop the ramen".

Ramen… Sounded terrible, but at the same time, it smelled interesting. Wandering closer, he perceived that the stall was just opening up for business, hence the new ramen smell.

Shame that he didn't have enough money. Double shame that he had no money period.

Shrugging, he turned around and was about to leave, when he heard a commotion at the stall and a large amount of people in front of him start as it they had seen something important. Standing in the middle of the street, Herobrine was completely perplexed as to what was going on, so he was understandably panicked when people started charging him.

Or… past him.

In hindsight, Herobrine would in later years mark that as the point when "everything went downhill from there". Not really interested in the mob, at least, now that he knew they weren't after him, Herobrine contemplated trying to hunt down the house again. Craning his neck at the sky, he stared at the clouds for a minute.

_Nah…_

Inwardly laughing, he turned around, mingling with the growing crowd that was moving down the street for no apparent reason. Eavesdropping on the others, he heard the word "Hokage" tossed around multiple times, but he had no idea what that word meant. After a few minutes of being stuck in a stagnant crowd, Herobrine gave up and made his way to the nearby ramen stand. Ducking inside, he saw a middle-aged man tending the counter while another woman moved back inside. Other than one other hooded figure, the place was empty.

"Hello! Welcome to Ichiraku Ramen. How may I help you?" asked the man at the counter.

"Oh, just dodging the crowd," replied Herobrine. "I'll only be a moment." Hearing a small snort from the other man at the counter, Herobrine wondered, "You too, hunh."

"Yeah," mumbled the man, taking a sip.

"Well, as long as you're here, would you like a drink?" asked the manager.

"Ehh… I don't have anything to pay it with, sadly, so I'll have to decline, Teuchi." Replied Herobrine, reading the man's name on his apron.

"Ahh…" Nodding his head, Teuchi put away the cleaning cloth and sat down across from Herobrine. "Where'd you come from?"

"I guess it's obvious I'm not from here, isn't it."

Teuchi shrugged. "You live here awhile and you get good at it. So?"

Thinking for a moment, Herobrine remembered what Anko had said in the beginning.

"Kirigakure," Herobrine plaintively replied.

"That's a long trip there friend, " whistled Teuchi. "Did you come with anyone else?"

"Nope."

"You came alone?" perked up the man in the hood, putting down the cup. "Interesting… Would you mind telling me more?"

Looking back over at the man, Herobrine was about to reply, but then stopped, resorting to staring at the man. Opening his mouth to speak again, he closed it.

"Shinobi, Hunh." He finally said. Looking back over at Teuchi, he noticed that the storekeeper was staring, not at the hooded man, but at himself.

"You too in cahoots or something?"

"No," replied the hooded man, now raising up to face Herobrine. "We're not in cahoots at all. In fact, I just met him last night anyway. He makes good ramen, my friend would swear by it."

Shuffling back his hood, Herobrine found himself facing a young man around his early thirties wearing a white trench coat underneath his brown cloak, adorned with red-orange flames on the bottom. Bright yellow – almost blond hair marked his face, which looked deceptively younger than the man's real age. As Herobrine's gaze wandered over the man, he noticed a green, rough leather vest with multiple pockets on his person, with a tri-pronged knife on his belt. Finally, on his head, he wore a blue headband with a metal plate and an odd symbol, either etched or pressed, Herobrine could not tell. Holding out his hand, the stranger smiled.

"Hello. I'm Minato Namikaze. Fourth Hokage of Konoha. May I offer you a drink?"


End file.
